Resident doctors in England have said they will strike for five days from 25 July after voting in favour of fresh action over pay.Previously known as junior doctors, the medics will stage a walkout from 07:00 on 25 July until 07:00 on 30 July – giving ministers two weeks to agree to negotiate their pay instead.The British Medical Association (BMA) said it had met with the health secretary to try and “avoid strike action” on Tuesday, but that the government had “stated that it will not negotiate on pay”.Health Secretary Wes Streeting called the move “unnecessary and unreasonable” and added: “The NHS is hanging by a thread – why on earth are they threatening to pull it?”He said the strike was “without historic precedent” given the medics had received a 28.9% pay increase over the last three years, and were not in the interest of patients or staff.The government was “ready and willing to work with them to avert strike action” he said, and “instead of responding positively they’ve responded with five days of strike action”.He had earlier told the Times newspaper the walkouts would be “a disaster for their members and a disaster for patients” – and the public would “not forgive” them.Resident doctors have been awarded a 5.4% pay rise for this financial year – which will go into pay packets from August – following a 22% increase over the previous two years.But the BMA says wages are still around 20% lower in real terms than in 2008.Its resident doctors committee co-chairs, Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt, said they …
